A man was walking across a bridge when he spotted someone about to jump.
“Don’t jump!” He said. “Are you a religious man?”
“Yes.” The jumper replied.
“Me too.” Said the walker. “I am a Baptist—remember God loves you!”
“I am a Baptist too,” said the jumper.
“Are you a Southern Baptist, or an Independent Baptist?” Asked the walker.
“Independent.” Said the jumper.
“Oh.” Answered the walker, “Go ahead and jump!”
Schism.
Religions are awash with spits and separations and Baptists are only one of many many faiths that have suffered these divides over the centuries. With each break and division, believers stake themselves to their points of view, judging others who do not agree.
This is what God thinks about those who judge: “Why do you pass judgment on your brother?…For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; …Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block in the way of a brother.” —Romans 14:10-13
Clearly in God’s economy, those who judge do not hold the high ground. We thump our Bibles carefully choosing the verses on which to stake our stance to condemn others, while ignoring those passages that don’t suit us in the 21st century. (“Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material” —Leviticus 19:19, or “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads.” —Leviticus 19:27) Then there are passages about slavery and those that dictate how women are to comport themselves in church. Come on folks. Good, Christian people are going to differ on these passages!
Meanwhile, if you haven’t noticed, Christians are not as well thought of as they have been in the past. I have to wonder, if we would all just go out in the world and act like Christians instead of fighting among ourselves, we might attract more people to the Christian life. We are commanded to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. That’s the baseline. Instead we fill ourselves with righteous indignation and pour contempt on those who don’t agree with every jot and tittle of our particular stance.
Here’s what Jesus had to say about those “who trusted that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” —Luke 18: 9-14
I have to say, I’m with him. I too am a sinner. But I know God never tells us to “go jump.” He wants us all. And only when we stand before Him can we be rightly judged.
I’ll take my chances,
Nancy
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